Jasmine Myra
is a Leeds-based composer and multi-instrumentalist. Signed to
Matthew Halsall
's
Gondwana
, she delivered the carefully considered
Horizons
in 2022, a musical journey reflecting struggles with mental and emotional health during the pandemic. By her own admission,
Rising
is a musical continuation and reflects better times. She re-teams with producer
Halsall
and mixing guru
Greg Freeman
, guitarist
Ben Haskins
, pianist
Jasper Green
, harpist
Alice Roberts
, drummer
George Hall
, bassist
Sam Quintana
, and, on four tracks, a string quartet.
Myra
's music is deeply influenced by the late trumpeter
Kenny Wheeler
, and expresses great admiration for the influences of
Shabaka Hutchings
,
Makaya McCraven
, and multi-instrumentalist/producer
Bonobo
(
Simon Green
).
Five of these six tunes are between six and eight minutes long. The title-cut opener recalls the compositional styles of saxophonists
Jan Garbarek
and
Jim Pepper
, as well as the mature work of guitarist
Pat Metheny
. Introduced by an arco bass drone with piano and shimmering cymbals,
delivers the modal lyric in the tenor's low register. A minute in, an overdubbed guitar goes into call-and- response with itself, as double bass and crystalline piano punctuate her statements. When
solos, she opts for the horn's upper register and overdubs her flute as the band gradually ratchets the tension. The flute serves as primary driver on "Still Waters," a vampish dialogue in waltz time led by piano, bushed snare, double bass, and strings. She executes the primary melody on tenor, as her bandmates carry and expand the vamp. The intro on "Knowingness" is provided by harp, double bass, and
's soprano saxophone.
Haskins
joins with intricate counter melodies before he, the saxophonist,
Green
, and
Roberts
engage in modal swing tracing minor melodies from the ether.
overdubs the tenor, creating a dramatic processional before taking it out with the entire band behind her. "Glimmers" initially sounds like a suite;
's stacked saxes meet piano, guitar, and drums in shifting cadences and mercurial choruses, opening onto structured improvisation.
' guitar solo is elegant, poignant, and eerie. At less than three minutes, "From Embers" is an outlier. A lovely, chamber-like piece, it interweaves tenor with strings, guitar, flute, and cymbals, walking the tightrope between dirge and nocturnal reverie. Set closer "How Tall the Mountains" is introduced with
's bass clarinet. Amid reverential tom-tom and bass drums, she plays a secondary melody framed by harp and guitar. When the piano enters, it seems
will carry the harmony off in another direction, but
reasserts her vamps on layered saxes first, then flute and bass clarinet before the guitarist and harpist add groove.
answers them by dabbling in Andean folk music.
's compositions are of a piece, making the album holistic.
and ensemble offer intricately structured compositions, played subtly and skillfully with abundant inspiration and heart. Indeed, it is almost as if
's collaborators composed these pieces with her in real time on-stage. Magnificent. ~ Thom Jurek